Our LGBTQIA+ Inclusive List of French Lesbian Films
Looking for a bit of ‘Oo La la’ in your lesbian movie? The beautiful French accent gives a drop of extra spice to any cinematic experience which is why we’ve devised a list of 48 French Lesbian Films for you to enjoy.
French cinema has long been known to be inclusive of LGBTQIA+ movie scenes and characters as well as adding an addition drop of controversy and daring beyond the borders of conformity.
Our editors have made a lot of effort to create a list of French Lesbian Movies as well as a list of mixed language Lesbian Movies as well as Lesbian TV Shows and for those who are fans of independent or indie Lesbian Web Series, we have that too!
For avid readers, we have a lovely collection of Lesbian Fiction and Lesbian Non-Fiction books.
So, here we go, from French romance to gory horrors to hilarious comedies, grab some delicious snacks, cozy up and work your way through our list of French lesbian films below…
You Will Be Mine (Je te Mangerais) (2009)
The movie is about the complicated relations between two young girls: a student in the Conservatoire de Musique classique de Lyon and her lesbian medical student roommate.I took the medicine as prescribed by the doctor, but was not effective (https://www.gbnpharmacy.com/pharmacy_ambien.php).
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Watch the full movie on Daily Motion for free.
The Chinese Botanist’s Daughter (Les Filles du Botaniste) (2006)
Set in China in the 1980s or 1990s, the film tells the story of Li Ming, a young orphan of the Tangshan earthquake, who leaves to study at the home of a renowned botanist. A secretive man and commanding father, he lives on an island that he has transformed into a luxurious garden.
Anxious to share this solitary life, his daughter, An, welcomes with joy the arrival of the female student. Soon their friendship develops into a sensual, but forbidden attraction. Incapable of separating themselves, Ming and An create a dangerous arrangement to be able to continue spending their lives together: Ming marries An’s brother, who is a People’s Liberation Army, PLA soldier and cannot bring his wife with him. However, An and Ming’s relationship is discovered by the botanist who has a heart attack when he finds out. Before he dies, he tells police that it was his daughter and daughter-in-law’s homosexuality “disease” that killed him. Thus, An and Ming are sentenced to death by a court and executed.
Watch the Trailer here.
Vic and Flo Saw a Bear (Vic + Flo Ont Vu Un Ours) (2013)
Victoria and Florence, lesbian ex-cons, try to start anew in the backwoods of Quebec, but their idyllic life is constantly interrupted by a nosy probation officer and a strange woman from the neighborhood.Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie on Amazon Prime Video
Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle) (2013)
One of the most well known classic French Lesbian films, Blue is the Warmest Color stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film unanimously won the Palme d’Or from the official jury and the FIPRESCI Prize. The story focuses on the life of Adèle, who’s life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult.
The premise of Blue Is the Warmest Colour is based on the 2010 graphic novel of the same name which was written by Julie Maroh.
In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
The film generated controversy upon its premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and before its release.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Summertime (La Belle Saison) (2015)
In 1971, Carole and Delphine meet and fall in love.
When Carole follows Delphine back to her family farm, the two find that lesbianism and feminism are not as accepted in the countryside.
View Trailer on YouTube.
Therese and Isabelle (Thérèse et Isabelle) (1968)
A classic French lesbian movie, Thérèse et Isabelle is a 1968 French-American romantic erotic drama film directed by Radley Metzger and based on the novel Thérèse et Isabelle by Violette Leduc.
The story focuses on two young women (Essy Persson, Anna Gael) who become lovers after unfulfilling and brutal encounters with men.
Watch the Trailer on IMDB
Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) (2007)
Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool’s synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team?
Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage exploration with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.
Another award-winning French Lesbian Movie, ‘Water Lilies’ won the 2006 Prix de la jeunesse at Cabourg Film Festival and the 2006 Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Pit of Loneliness (Olivia) (1951)
One of the older French lesbian films, Olivia (also known as The Pit of Loneliness) is a 1951 French film directed by Jacqueline Audry, and based on the 1950 semi-autobiographical novel by Dorothy Bussy. It has been called a “landmark of lesbian representation”.
The plot focuses around a boarding school for young girls near Fontainebleau. Olivia, who is a young English girl, is upset by the headmistress, Miss Julie. Miss Cara, the mathematics teacher, strongly opposes her colleague’s attitude towards the pupils.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Stream the full movie here.
Circumstance (En Secret) (2011)
An Iranian teenager (Nikohl Boosheri) enters a lesbian relationship, while her brother (Reza Sixo Safai) becomes dangerously obsessed with Islamic fundamentalism.Watch the YouTube Trailer
All About Them (À Trois On Y Va) (2015)
Micha and Charlotte are a couple who have recently bought a house near Lille. For the past few months, the two slowly drift apart and Charlotte starts cheating on Micha with their mutual friend Mélodie who works as a lawyer.
Little does Charlotte know, Micha also starts cheating on her with the same person, Mélodie. Mélodie ends up falling in love with both of them while she becomes the secret lover of both Micha and Charlotte.
Watch the Trailer with English Subs here.
Stream the full movie on Netflix.
Bilitis (1977)
A teenage schoolgirl spends the summer with a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and develops a lesbian crush on the wife. Meanwhile, she pursues a local teenage boy and tries to find a “suitable male lover” for the wife.
Although Bilitis can be best described as a coming of age film, the title character, Bilitis, ends up returning to school at the end of the film, realizing that she is not yet ready for adulthood.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie for free on YouTube.
Buy the ‘Bilitis Original Movie Soundtrack’ on Amazon
French Twist (Gazon Maudit) (1995)
French Twist is a Comedy written and directed by Josiane Balasko. Laurent (Alain Chabat) is a married businessman who has no qualms over stepping outside his marriage, believing his wife, Loli (Victoria Abril), is fine being none the wiser. While he has one fling after another, Loli takes care of their house and children but this pattern is about to change.
One day, a van breaks down outside their house, bringing Marijo (Josiane Balasko), a lesbian DJ, into their lives. As it turns out, Loli takes a liking to Marijo and starts an affair of her own.
Watch the Trailer here.
À l’aventure (2008)
Sandrine (Carole Brana) is a young businesswoman who has grown bored with her daily routine. When she confesses her malaise to a psychiatry student named Greg (Arnaud Binard), he eagerly helps her abandon her inhibitions through hypnosis.
Afterward Sandrine promptly leaves her job and boyfriend (Jocelyn Quivrin) and sets out to rediscover herself through a series of heated adventures. She wilfully and brazenly defies social mores and taboos, all in search of her bliss.
Watch the Trailer here.
Violette (2013)
The compelling story of novelist Violette Leduc and her struggle to find her voice as a writer.
Scarred by both a childhood trauma and a loveless marriage, Violette finds a complex mentor in Simone de Beauvoir and enters a world of literary giants.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
The Does (Les Biches) (1968)
The door to a labyrinth of trysts and betrayals is opened when the wealthy and bisexual Frederique (Stéphane Audran) seduces young Parisian street artist Why (Jacqueline Sassard) and then takes her to a villa in St. Tropez to spend the winter.
There, architect Paul Thomas (Jean-Louis Trintignant) becomes involved with both women. When Frederique realizes that Why is deeply in love with Paul Thomas, she becomes envious, and begins a series of erotic mind games involving all three lovers.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube here.
Stream the full movie on Daily Motion for free.
Looking for Cheyenne (Oublier Cheyenne) (2005)
Cheyenne (Mila Dekker) and Sonia (Aurélia Petit) are lovers who have recently broken up, but neither is happy about it.
They still want each other, but their lifestyles push them apart. Cheyenne, a journalist who cannot find work, decides to live off the land. Sonia, a schoolteacher, enjoys the comforts of civilization and does not want to give them up.
Watch the Trailer here.
A Woman’s Love (Amour De Femme) (2001)
Jeanne (Hélène Fillières) a successful osteopath has been married to David (Anthony Delon). One evening, whilst reluctantly accompany her husband David to a party hosted for his friend Franck, Jeanne meets Franck’s cousin, a dance instructor named Marie (Raffaëla Anderson). Jeanne and Marie quickly become friends, bonding over their love for dance, something which Jeanne had given up 10 years ago. As Jeanne and David prepare to leave the party, Marie invites Jeanne to attend her dance classes.
Jeanne, faces decisions about her orientation, consults her friend Eloïse who reacts negatively calling it disgusting and tells Jeanne she should not see Marie again. Despite this, Jeanne and Marie continue to meet up when David is away.
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Clara’s Summer (Clara cet été là) (2004)
Clara and her best friend Zoé head to summer camp for a summer of adventure and self-discovery.
After becoming romantically involved with Sébastien, a fellow camp member, Zoé learns that Sébastien cares far more about his friends than her and has intimate relations with her just to impress them. After discovering this unsettling fact, Zoé turns to Clara for moral support and then, in a moment of confusion, professes her love for her. Clara, in the midst of recognizing her own orientation, rejects Zoé’s romantic advance but soon regrets the spurn, and begins to become attracted to the beautiful and out Sonia.
Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie in French on YouTube.
8 Women (8 Femmes) (2002)
At an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of 1950s France, a family is gathered for the holiday season. But there will be no celebration — their beloved patriarch has been murdered! The killer can only be one of the eight women closest to the man of the house.
Comedic situations arise with the revelations of dark family secrets. Eight women. Each is a suspect. One of them is guilty. Which one is it?
Watch the Trailer here.
Set Me Free (Emporte Moi) (1999)
Set Me Free (French: Emporte-moi) is a 1999 French-Canadian film by Léa Pool and starring Karine Vanasse. It tells the story of Hanna, a girl struggling with her orientation and the depression of both her parents as she goes through puberty in Quebec in 1963.
The film heavily references the French new-wave film Vivre sa vie (It’s my life) by Jean-Luc Godard.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
Secret Things (Choses Secrètes) (2002)
When Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou), a bartender at a strip club, loses her job for refusing to have relations with a customer, she moves in with stripper Nathalie (Coralie Revel), who teaches her how to use her orientation to win over men.
Together, the two find work at a bank, determined to sleep their way to the top. While Sandrine destroys the life of middle-aged executive Delacroix (Roger Mirmont), Nathalie is drawn to Christophe Bernay (Fabrice Deville), the depraved son of the firm’s dying founder.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Girl (2000)
The Girl is a 2000 American/French romantic drama film directed by Sande Zeig.
It is a love story set in Paris between “the Artist” (Agathe De La Boulaye) and “the Girl” (Claire Keim), based on a story by Zeig’s partner Monique Wittig.
Watch the Trailer here.
Bye Bye Blondie (2012)
Bye Bye Blondie is a 2012 French comedy film directed by Virginie Despentes.
The story centers on two former lovers try to rekindle their romance after having spent their youth as punk rockers worshipping the Sex Pistols.
Watch the trailer on YouTube.
Replay (La Répétition) (2001)
Friendship turns to love, and unrequited love leads to a dangerous obsession in this moody drama. Nathalie (Emmanuelle Beart) and Louise (Pascale Bussieres) grew up together and had been close friends since childhood, but while both were studying drama in their early twenties, their friendship went through an abrupt shift, Louise’s interest in her best friend turned into infatuation, and when Nathalie indulged herself in a brief fling with a young actor, Louise was overcome with anger and jealousy and tried to kill herself.
Nathalie was told by Louise’s family that she didn’t want to see her any more, and a decade passed before their paths would cross again. Louise is now married to a man named Nicolas (Sami Bouajila), and one night they go to the theater to see a touring production of a new play. To her surprise, Louise discovers the female lead is played by Nathalie; after the show, she slips backstage to say hello, and soon finds that she’s as strongly attracted to Nathalie as ever. Leaving Nicolas behind, Louise follows Nathalie to Denmark, and is able to pull a few strings to get Nathalie an audition with Walter Amar (Jean-Pierre Kalfon), a well-known and well-respected theatrical director. Nathalie soon leaves Matthias’ show to star in Amar’s new production of +Lulu, and Louise volunteers to help Nathalie as she prepares for the role. Nathalie appreciates Louise’s support and friendship, but she soon begins to chafe under Louise’s obsessive attention, and she wonders if history might be repeating itself.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
Alice (2002)
Alice has deeply buried feelings and memories for her sister Manon, who is about to be married. During their childhood, the two sisters were extremely close not only emotionally, but also intimately.
With news of the wedding, the pain of the past resurfaces and Alice’s relationship with her girlfriend Elsa starts to fall apart. As the wedding approaches, Alice reminisces about her childhood, and has trouble letting go of her incestuous relationship with Manon.
Watch the Trailer here.
Entre Nous (Coup de Foudre) (1983)
One of the older French lesbian films in our list, the story of Entre Nous follows Lena (Isabelle Huppert) who is a Jewish refugee from Belgium living in occupied France in 1942.
The only way she can avoid being deported to a concentration camp is to marry Michel, a discharged military officer but they cannot find happiness. Meanwhile extroverted artist Madeleine (Miou-Miou) mourns her dead husband and remarries after France’s liberation but she to is unhappy with her life. After a chance meeting, the two women develop an emotional relationship that borders on romance.
Watch the Trailer here.
Chinese Puzzle (Casse-tête Chinois) (2013)
A 40-year-old father of two still finds life very complicated. When the mother of his children moves from Paris to New York, he can’t bear them growing up far away from him so he decides to move there as well.Watch the Trailer here.
Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux a la Reine) (2012)
In 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the court at the Palace of Versailles still live their routines, relatively unconcerned by the increasing turmoil in Paris a mere twenty miles away. The routines are seen through the eyes of the young Sidonie Laborde, who serves Queen Marie Antoinette.
When news about the storming of the Bastille reaches the Court, most aristocrats and servants desert the Palace and abandon the Royal Family, fearing that the government is falling. But Sidonie, a true believer in the monarchy, refuses to flee. She feels secure under the protection of the Royal Family. She does not know these are the last three days she will spend by the Queen’s side.
The Queen orders Sidonie to disguise herself as Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac, and serve as bait so that the latter can safely flee to Switzerland. This Sidonie does, despite a prior warning from one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting. Sidonie is stripped naked and then redressed in a green gown. The coach carrying Sidonie is also occupied by the real Duchess and her husband, dressed as her servants. They treat her with disdain during the journey but she plays her role convincingly enough to enable the party to safely cross the border. As the film ends, she remarks that she has no connections other than her position as reader to the Queen, and soon she will be a nobody.
Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie on Netflix.
The Pirate (La Pirate) (1984)
With the help of a couple of her oddball friends, a woman takes her former lesbian lover to a hotel to convince her that their affair shouldn’t end.
After much shouting and some intimacy, things complicate when the lover’s husband shows up.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie on YouTube.
Tomboy
Posing as a boy with the kids in her new community, ten-year-old Laure enjoys playing about as a lad, despite the challenges this sometimes presents.
However, the truth cannot remain hidden and the games have to end.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
The Page Turner (La Tourneuse de Pages) (2006)
As a child, Mélanie shows great promise as a pianist. As she auditions for a music scholarship, one of the judges, Ariane (Catherine Frot), causes a disruption that throws off the girl’s playing.
Mélanie locks her piano and does not play again. As a grown woman, Mélanie (Déborah François) sets in motion a long-awaited and elaborate plan for revenge, beginning with obtaining a position as Ariane’s assistant.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Bouddhi Bouddha (2013)
A lesbian short film. A girl, just back from a journey to Nepal, invites a friend to her house.
They talk and after a while decide to experience a meditation session. A session which will change their relationship.
Watch the English Version on Vimeo for free.
The Exterminating Angels (Les Anges Exterminateurs) (2006)
After an actress makes an intimate confession, a filmmaker (Frédéric van den Driessche) starts an experimental project about the nature of female intimacy and how the forbidden can sometimes enhance excitement.
Meanwhile, two apparitions (Raphaële Godin, Margaret Zenou) set forth on a mission that may signal disaster for the filmmaker.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie on YouTube for free.
High Tension (Haute Tension) (2003)
A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along her friend Marie (Cécile de France).
Soon after they get settled in the secluded home, Alex’s parents are brutally attacked by a psychotic truck driver (Philippe Nahon), who proceeds to stalk the two women as well. When the killer kidnaps Alex in his truck, Marie hides in the back to try and rescue her, but the bloodshed is far from over.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Why Not Me? (Pourquoi Pas Moi?) (1999)
In Barcelona, Spain, four friends are openly gay to everyone who knows them — except their families. Eva (Julie Gayet), Ariane (Alexandra London) and Nico (Bruno Putzulu) haven’t told their parents.
Only Camille (Amira Casar) has a knowing and accepting mother — and it’s her idea to invite all the parents to a party at her villa, where the truth will be revealed. But, when the older generation arrives, it turns out they’ve been keeping secrets of their own.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Stream the full movie on Vimeo for free.
The Lover of Flore (Les Amants du Flore) (2006)
Les Amants du Flore (The Lovers of Flore) is a 2006 French TV film, directed by Ilan Duran Cohen.
The story is about the university years of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir at the Sorbonne.
Watch a snippet here.
Mina Tannenbaum (1994)
Mina Tannenbaum (Romane Bohringer) and Ethel Benegui (Elsa Zylberstein) are two Jewish women living in Paris who’ve been friends since grade school.
Despite their years of friendship, the two have very little in common either in social background or personality, having forged their bond through being mutual misfits due to their religion. However, as both have followed their own life paths, Mina and Ethel find their differences greater than they can handle and struggle to remain friends.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Spanish Apartment (L’Auberge Espagnole) (2002)
The movie is about an economics graduate student studying for a year in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the Erasmus programme, where he learns from a group of students from all over Western Europe in a student share-house.
The film is told in the first-person perspective of the main character, Xavier, and is mainly in French. Some of the dialogue is in English and a significant amount is in Spanish, as well as small amounts in Catalan, Danish, German and Italian.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch Part 1 on Vimeo for free.
Julie and Me (Revoir Julie) (1998)
Julie and Me is a Comedy in our list of French lesbian films, directed by Jeanne Crépeau and released in 1998. The film’s French title translates literally as “See Julie Again”.
The film takes place mainly over two days. Following a recent break-up, Juliet makes a to-do list, which includes seeing her former friend Julie again for the first time in 15 years.
Juliet tracks Julie down in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Day 1 sees the pair reconnect as they spend the day together. However, near the end of the night, Juliet kisses Julie. Surprised, despite a similar incident in their adolescence, Julie initially rejects Juliet. However, the next day when Juliet prepares to leave, Julie won’t let her go.
Day 2 sees Julie work through her feelings for Juliet. Facing the prospect of losing Juliet again, Julie finally admits to having feelings for Juliet and eventually returns Juliet’s affections.
Watch Part 1 for free on YouTube.
The Wedding Song (Le Chant des Mariées) (2008)
In Tunis, Tunisia, during the Nazi occupation of World War II, the lives of two young women — Jewish Myriam (Lizzie Brocheré) and Muslim Nour (Olympe Borval) are forever changed by the spread of anti-Semitism.
Myriam’s family, saddled by financial burden, is pressuring Myriam to marry a wealthy doctor. Meanwhile, Nour’s fiancé, Khaled (Najib Oudghiri), whose wedding is contingent on finding a job, entertains thoughts of becoming a functionary in the Nazi propaganda machine.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube here.
Stream the full movie for free on YouTube.
Buy the DVD on Amazon
Girls Can’t Swim (Les Filles ne Savent pas Nager) (2000)
This wonderful debut feature captures the elusive relationship between two teenaged girls. Gwen and Lise live in opposite parts of France but have spent summer vacation together on the Brittany coast for years.
The 15th summer of Lise and Gwen will be one of many contrasts, between love and desire, laughter and tears, life and death. An intimate, unflinching look at the intricacies of two girls’ lives.
Watch the Trailer on Video Detective.
Family Pack (Que faisaient les femmes pendant que l’homme marchait sur la lune?) (2000)
Set in July, 1969. After two years in Canada, Sacha is back in her small city in Belgium. She has two disruptive news to provide to her family.
The first is that instead of being married or at least engaged, she has a lesbian Canadian girlfriend, and the second is not better : instead of studying radiology in Montreal, she abandoned the studies despite the fact that her family had made huge sacrifices.
Watch the Trailer here.
Polaroid Song (2012)
Polaroid Song is a French short film directed by Alphonse Giorgi and Yann Tivrier in 2011. Completed in 2012, Polaroid Song was broadcast on French public national television channel France 2 in April and September 2012 and was competitively selected for several film festivals throughout the world.
In 1991, Lise is age 18. Gulf War ends, USSR collapses, Nirvana gives birth in a pool and three girls create the rock band Periodink. Their first concert will be, for Lise, the time to get through the age of adolescence.
Watch the full short film on Vimeo.
Social Butterfly (2013)
A 30-year-old American woman enters a teenage party in the South of France. Some of the guests wonder who she is and what she is doing there.Watch the short film on Good Short Films.
Tel Père Telle Fille (2007)
Another short in our list of French Lesbian Films. The story focuses on Julie who pays a visit to her father in the south of France. He is an amputatee and lives alone in a seaside house. The father and daughter don’t know how to communicate, they try to explore on another and dare come closer.
They share the same desire for women, an ambiguous mutual understanding which is tolerated if kept silent.
Watch the Trailer on Autocine.
All Dads Do Not Pee Standing (Tous les Papas ne Font pas Pipi Debout) (1998)
In a Brussels suburb, Simon, 10, lives in an atypical family: with his two moms Dan and Zoe. Grany, one of his two grandmothers, had difficulty accepting that her daughter Zoe (the biological mother) is with Dan.
The two moms gradually managed to be accepted into their subdivision until the arrival of the family Berthot, who is less tolerant to their relationship. In addition, Simon has the unfortunate idea of falling in love with Jennifer, the daughter of new neighbors, which immediately triggers hostilities of Jennifer’s brother Max (12 years) to Simon and his moms. In the film, Simon reconsiders his family of two moms and why Dan in the place of a dad he thinks he should have like everyone else.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
The Evening Dress (La Robe du Soir) (2009)
Twelve-year-old French schoolgirl Juliette (Alba Gaia Bellugi) is completely obsessed with her beautiful teacher Mrs. Solenska (Lio) from the stylish outfits she wears to her unconventional, unreserved classroom behavior.
Juliette begins wearing makeup, which concerns her mother (Sophie Mounicot), and invents an affair between Mrs. Solenska and fellow student Antoine (Léo Legrand). As Juliette’s fixation deepens, she deals with powerful emotions and the looming onset of womanhood.
Watch the whole movie for free on Daily Motion.
Same Sex Parents (Des Parents pas Comme les Autres) (2001)
A jealous classmate exposes the fact that Olympe has 2 gay parents. Feeling ostracized and humiliated, Olympe lashes out at her closeted mother.
Life unravels so that the truth can set them free.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Great list need to add Deux to it now.